%X This paper examines the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine during the COVID-19
pandemic as a paradigmatic example of an effective public-private partnership and groundbreaking innovation in drug development. Central to this successful approach was the Vaccine
Taskforce (VTF), a novel state entity which distinguished itself by taking responsibility for the
outcome of the vaccine development process, necessitating an active role in the process. In
this paper, the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is reimagined as a new public
service delivered by the VTF, identifying the important role of public service logic (PSL) in the
design and delivery of the vaccine. Accordingly, the paper employs service design blueprinting,
a common technique used in the design of public services, as an analytical framework.
Blueprinting enables a comprehensive analysis of the resources and expertise mobilised by
both public and private actors, documents the highly innovative process that enabled the
fastest vaccine development in history, and materialises the unique role that the state played
in maintaining an essential connective tissue between all parties to enable the mindset that
underpinned success. The results of the service blueprinting highlight that the state can play a
broader role in drug development, moving beyond facilitating private actors and becoming an
active participant in the innovation process, further suggesting that the engagement of PSL
with existing innovation commons can shape the motivations of private actors in the creation of
public value. Extending the design lens, the paper concludes by examining the question: how
might we see the development of new drugs as a public service?
%I UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
%L discovery10196640
%A Sion Williams-Eliyesil
%O This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
%S Working Paper Series (IIPP WP 2024-08)
%C London, UK
%D 2024
%T Vaccine development as a public service: Public service logic in the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19
vaccine